Shoe-fastening



(No Model.) 1

G. S. WEBBER; SHOE FASTENING.

N0. 450,205. Patented Apr. 14,1891.

Thine sszs.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' GEORGE s. wEBBER, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHOE-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION, forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,205, dated April 14, 1891.

Application filed August 11, 1890. Serial No. 361,667. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE S. WERBER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Clasps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ashoe clasp or fastening designed to take the place of the ordinary shoe-lace.

Its objects are to provide in the simplest possible form a more durable, more easily manipulated, and at the same time a more ornamental clasp than those now in use; and to such end it consists in the novel features and combinations thereof enumerated in the appended claim,which when combined make up the simple and compact device described below.

In the drawings furnished herewith, Figure 1 is abroken view of the upper front portion of a shoe provided with my improved clasps in their preferred form. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken in line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows a retaining-plate, the use of which is described below; and Fig. 4 isa sectional view taken in line 4 4: of Fig. 2. I

Describing this construction by means of the reference-letters applied to the different parts, A is a rigid bar or plate, preferably of metal and slightly elastic, bent to conform to the curve of the instep, and formed at one end into an eye a and at the other end intoacombined eye and hook a, a the end of the plate, after inclosing the eye a, being turned downward to form the hook a The bar Ais pivoted to one flap by means of the eye a. This is done by means of a staple .9, passed through the eye and secured to the flap. I prefer to use an eyelet e in connection with this staple, as, besides giving a more secure hold upon the leather, it affords a firni edge to clinch the staple, over and also allows the eye a of the bar a certain amount of play upon the staple. To the other end of the bar, a loop or tag Z is linked by means of the eye a to serve as a handle. This loop may be of any suitable material. 7 If beauty is of prime importance, it may be made of metal highly polished to match the bar A. For convenience, however, I prefer to make it flexible to give a better hold to the hand in fastening the clasp, and for this purpose it may be of leather, as here shown, attached to the eye by means of alink n, or it may be made of ordinary shoe-lacing strung directly through the eye.

Upon the flap of the shoe, opposite to the one to which the bar is pivoted, a retainingplate G is secured containing one or more holes g, formed to receive and retain the hook (L The edges of these holes are preferably beveled off, as seen at g, to give the hook a a surer holdthereon; also, the bar A is preferably made of spring metal, in order that the combined eye and hook at the free end may give the fastening a certain amount of elasticity, making it much more comfortable to the wearer.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- The combination of the metal bar A, bent to form the eye a at one end and the eye a and downwardly-projecting hook a at the other end, the staple s and eyelet e, the loop Z, linked to the eye a, and the perforated plate G, containing the holes g, having beveled edges g, substantially as described.

GEORGE S. WEBBER.

\Vitnesses R. H. PERRY, H. BITNER. 

